GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA

SESSION 2013
S D
SENATE BILL 793*
Education/Higher Education Committee Substitute Adopted 6/11/14
Third Edition Engrossed 6/16/14
House Committee Substitute Favorable 6/23/14
Fifth Edition Engrossed 6/26/14
Proposed Conference Committee Substitute S793-PCCS45224-RQ-3



Short Title: Charter School Modifications. (Public)
Sponsors:
Referred to:
May 20, 2014

*S793-PCCS45224-CSRQ-3*
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED 1
AN ACT TO MAKE VARIOUS CHANGES TO THE CHARTER SCHOOL LAWS AND TO 2
MAKE A TECHNICAL CORRECTION TO HOUSE BILL 712. 3
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts: 4
SECTION 1. G.S. 115C-238.29B(b) reads as rewritten: 5
"(b) The application shall contain at least the following information: 6
7
(3) The governance structure of the school including the names of the initial 8
members of the board of directors of the nonprofit, tax-exempt corporation 9
and the process to be followed by the school to ensure parental involvement. 10
A teacher employed by the board of directors to teach in the charter school 11
may serve as a nonvoting member of the board of directors for the charter 12
school. 13
." 14
SECTION 1.5. G.S. 115C-238.29D(a) reads as rewritten: 15
"(a) The State Board may grant final approval of an application if it finds the following: 16
(i)(1) that the The application meets the requirements set out in this Part and such 17
other requirements as may be adopted by the State Board of 18
Education,Education. 19
(ii)(2) that the The applicant has the ability to operate the school and would be 20
likely to operate the school in an educationally and economically sound 21
manner, andmanner. 22
(iii)(3) that grantingGranting the application would achieve one or more of the 23
purposes set out in G.S. 115C-238.29A. 24
The State Board shall act by January 15 of a calendar year on all applications and appeals it 25
receives prior to a date established by the Office of Charter Schools for receipt of applications 26
in the prior calendar year. In reviewing applications for the establishment of charter schools 27
within a local school administrative unit, the State Board is encouraged to give preference to 28
General Assembly Of North Carolina Session 2013
Page 2 Senate Bill 793* S793-PCCS45224-RQ-3
applications that demonstrate the capability to provide comprehensive learning experiences to 1
students identified by the applicants as at risk of academic failure. 2
(a1) The State Board shall make final decisions on the approval or denial of applications 3
by August 15 of a calendar year on all applications it receives prior to a date established by the 4
Office of Charter Schools for receipt of applications in that application cycle. The State Board 5
may make the final decision for approval contingent upon the successful completion of a 6
planning period prior to enrollment of students." 7
SECTION 2. G.S. 115C-238.29D(d) reads as rewritten: 8
"(d) The State Board of Education may grant the initial charter for a period not to exceed 9
10 years and years. The State Board of Education may renew the charter upon the request of the 10
chartering entity for subsequent periods not to exceed of 10 years each. The renewal may be for 11
less than 10 years if any one of the following applies: 12
(1) The charter school has not provided financially sound audits for the prior 13
three years. 14
(2) The charter school's student academic outcomes for the past three years have 15
not been comparable to the academic outcomes of students in the local 16
school administrative unit in which the charter school is located. 17
(3) The charter school is not in compliance with State law, federal law, the 18
school's own bylaws, or the provisions set forth in its charter granted by the 19
State Board of Education. 20
The State Board of Education shall review the operations of each charter school at least 21
once every five years to ensure that the school is meeting the expected academic, financial, and 22
governance standards." 23
SECTION 2.5.(a) G.S. 115C-238.29D(f) reads as rewritten: 24
"(f) It shall not be considered a material revision of a charter application and shall not 25
require prior approval of the State Board for a charter school to do any of the following: 26
(1) Increase its enrollment during the charter school's second year of operation 27
and annually thereafter by up to twenty percent (20%) of the school's 28
previous year's enrollment. 29
(2) Increase its enrollment during the charter school's second year of operation 30
and annually thereafter in accordance with planned growth as authorized in 31
its charter. 32
(3) Expand to offer one grade higher than the charter school currently offers if 33
the charter school has operated for at least three years and has not been 34
identified as having inadequate performance as provided in 35
G.S. 115C-238.29G(a1). 36
(4) Expand to offer one grade higher or lower than the charter school currently 37
offers if the charter school meets all of the following criteria: 38
a. The charter school's student academic outcomes for the year prior to 39
the expansion must have been at least comparable to the academic 40
outcomes of students in the local school administrative unit in which 41
the charter school is located. 42
b. The charter school has provided financially sound audits for the year 43
prior to the expansion. 44
c. The charter school is in compliance with State law, federal law, the 45
school's own bylaws, or the provisions set forth in its charter granted 46
by the State Board of Education. 47
d. The charter school has been in operation for less than three years. 48
The charter school shall provide documentation of the requirements of this 49
subdivision to the State Board of Education. The charter school shall be 50
permitted to expand to offer the higher or lower grade unless the State Board 51
General Assembly Of North Carolina Session 2013
S793-PCCS45224-RQ-3 Senate Bill 793* Page 3
of Education finds that the charter school has failed to meet the requirements 1
of this subdivision or other exceptional circumstances exist which justify not 2
permitting the grade expansion." 3
SECTION 2.5.(b) G.S. 115C-238.29D(f)(4), as enacted by this section, expires 4
September 1, 2015. 5
SECTION 3. G.S. 115C-238.29F is amended by adding a new subsection to read: 6
"(b1) A charter school shall not discriminate against any student on the basis of ethnicity, 7
national origin, gender, or disability." 8
SECTION 4. G.S. 115C-238.29F(g)(5) reads as rewritten: 9
"(5) A charter school shall not discriminate against any student on the basis of 10
ethnicity, national origin, gender, or disability. Except as otherwise provided 11
by law or the mission of the school as set out in the charter, the school shall 12
not limit admission to students on the basis of intellectual ability, measures 13
of achievement or aptitude, athletic ability, disability, race, creed, gender, 14
national origin, religion, or ancestry. A charter school whose mission is 15
single-sex education may limit admission on the basis of sex. Within one 16
year after the charter school begins operation, the charter school shall make 17
efforts for the population of the school to reasonably reflect the racial and 18
ethnic composition of the general population residing within the local school 19
administrative unit in which the school is located or the racial and ethnic 20
composition of the special population that the school seeks to serve residing 21
within the local school administrative unit in which the school is located. 22
The school shall be subject to any court-ordered desegregation plan in effect 23
for the local school administrative unit." 24
SECTION 4.5. G.S. 115C-238.29F(g)(5a) reads as rewritten: 25
"(5a) The charter school may give enrollment priority to any of the following: 26
a. Siblings of currently enrolled students who were admitted to the 27
charter school in a previous year. For the purposes of this subsection, 28
the term "siblings" includes any of the following who reside in the 29
same household: half siblings, stepsiblings, and children residing in a 30
family foster home. 31
b. Siblings of students who have completed the highest grade level 32
offered by that school and who were enrolled in at least four grade 33
levels offered by the charter school or, if less than four grades are 34
offered, in the maximum number of grades offered by the charter 35
school. 36
c. Limited to no more than fifteen percent (15%) of the school's total 37
enrollment, unless granted a waiver by the State Board of Education, 38
the following: 39
1. Children of the school's full-time employees. 40
2. For its first year of operation, children of the initial members 41
Children of the charter school's board of directors. 42
d. A student who was enrolled in the charter school within the two 43
previous school years but left the school (i) to participate in an 44
academic study abroad program or a competitive admission 45
residential program or (ii) because of the vocational opportunities of 46
the student's parent." 47
SECTION 5. G.S. 115C-238.29F is amended by adding a new subsection to read: 48
"(m) Open Meetings and Public Records. The charter school and board of directors of 49
the private nonprofit corporation that operates the charter school are subject to the Public 50
Records Act, Chapter 132 of the General Statutes, and the Open Meetings Law, Article 33C of 51
General Assembly Of North Carolina Session 2013
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Chapter 143 of the General Statutes. Notwithstanding the requirements of Chapter 132 of the 1
General Statutes, inspection of charter school personnel records for those employees directly 2
employed by the board of directors of the charter school shall be subject to the requirements of 3
Article 21A of this Chapter. 4
The charter school and board of directors of the private nonprofit corporation that operates 5
the charter school shall use the same schedule established by the Department of Cultural 6
Resources for retention and disposition of records of local school administrative units." 7
SECTION 5.2. G.S. 115C-238.29H(c) reads as rewritten: 8
"(c) The local school administrative unit shall also provide each charter school to which 9
it transfers a per pupil share of its local current expense fund with all of the following 10
information within the 30-day time period provided in subsection (b) of this section: 11
(1) The total amount of monies the local school administrative unit has in each 12
of the funds listed in G.S. 115C-426(c). 13
(2) The student membership numbers used to calculate the per pupil share of the 14
local current expense fund. 15
(3) How the per pupil share of the local current expense fund was calculated. 16
(4) Any additional records requested by a charter school from the local school 17
administrative unit in order for the charter school to audit and verify the 18
calculation and transfer of the per pupil share of the local current expense 19
fund." 20
SECTION 5.6. G.S. 115C-238.29H(d) reads as rewritten: 21
"(d) Prior to commencing an action under subsection (b) of this section, the complaining 22
party shall give the other party 15 days' written notice of the alleged violation. The court shall 23
award the prevailing party reasonable attorneys' fees and costs incurred in an action under 24
subsection (b) of this section. The court shall order any delinquent funds, costs, fees, and 25
interest to be paid in equal monthly installments and shall establish a time for payment in full 26
that shall be no later than three years one year from the entry of any judgment." 27
SECTION 6. Upon recommendations by the Office of Charter Schools and the 28
Charter Schools Advisory Board and pursuant to G.S. 115C-239.29G(a1)(2), the State Board of 29
Education shall adopt a process and rules for the competitive bid process for the assumption of 30
a charter school that has inadequate performance and could have its charter terminated or not 31
renewed by the State Board of Education. At a minimum, the State Board shall require 32
interested entities to meet the following criteria: 33
(1) Have operated another charter school in the State for three years. 34
(2) Can provide three years of financially sound audits for the charter school 35
they are currently operating in the State. 36
(3) Have student academic outcomes that are comparable to the academic 37
outcomes of students in the local school administrative unit in which the 38
currently operating charter school is located. 39
The State Board of Education shall adopt rules and procedures required by this 40
section by January 15, 2015, and report to the Joint Legislative Education Oversight Committee 41
by February 1, 2015. 42
SECTION 6.5. Upon recommendations by the Office of Charter Schools and the 43
Charter Schools Advisory Board, the State Board of Education shall adopt a process and rules 44
for fast-track replication of high-quality charter schools currently operating in the State. The 45
State Board of Education shall not require a planning year for applicants selected through the 46
fast-track replication process. In addition to the requirements for charter applicants set forth in 47
Part 6A of Article 16 of Chapter 115C of the General Statutes, the fast-track replication process 48
adopted by the State Board of Education shall, at a minimum, require a board of directors of a 49
charter school to demonstrate one of the following in order to qualify for fast-track replication: 50
General Assembly Of North Carolina Session 2013
S793-PCCS45224-RQ-3 Senate Bill 793* Page 5
(1) A charter school in this State governed by the board of directors has student 1
academic outcomes that are comparable to the academic outcomes of 2
students in the local school administrative unit in which the charter school is 3
located and can provide three years of financially sound audits. 4
(2) The board of directors agrees to contract with an education management 5
organization or charter management organization that can demonstrate that it 6
can replicate high-quality charter schools in the State that have proven 7
student academic success and financial soundness. 8
The State Board of Education shall ensure that the rules for a fast-track replication process 9
provide that decisions by the State Board of Education on whether to grant a charter through 10
the replication process are completed in less than 150 days. The State Board of Education shall 11
adopt rules and procedures required by this section by December 15, 2014, and report to the 12
Joint Legislative Education Oversight Committee by February 15, 2015. 13
SECTION 6.6.(a) G.S. 20-84(b) is amended by adding a new subdivision to read: 14
"(b) Permanent Registration Plates. The Division may issue permanent plates for the 15
following motor vehicles: 16
17
(3a) A motor vehicle that is owned and exclusively operated by a nonprofit 18
corporation authorized under G.S. 115C-238.29D to operate a charter school 19
and identified by a permanent decal or painted marking disclosing the name 20
of the nonprofit corporation. The motor vehicle shall only be used for 21
student transportation and official charter school related activities. 22
." 23
SECTION 6.6.(b) This section is repealed July 1, 2015. 24
SECTION 7. The Revisor of Statutes is authorized to renumber and recodify Part 25
6A of Article 16 of Chapter 115C of the General Statutes to a more suitable location. 26
SECTION 7.3. If House Bill 712, 2013 Regular Session, becomes law, the lead-in 27
language for Section 7 of that bill is amended by deleting the citation "Article 9 of Chapter 115 28
of the General Statutes" and replacing it with the citation "Article 9 of Chapter 115C of the 29
General Statutes". 30
SECTION 8. Except as otherwise provided, this act is effective when it becomes 31
law and applies beginning with the 2014-2015 school year. Section 5.6 of this act applies to 32
actions filed on or after the effective date of this act. 33